Debate contribution: Ballymena Disorder: Safe and Appropriate Rehousing

Debate contribution by Mr Gordon Lyons on 16 June 2025.

MLA

Mr Gordon Lyons

Party at the time

Democratic Unionist Party

Date

16 June 2025

Type

Debate contribution (made as a minister)

Business

Questions for Urgent Oral Answer

Heading

Ballymena Disorder: Safe and Appropriate Rehousing

Assembly identifier

Official Report component 5010718

Read the official Assembly record

Text

The Housing Executive participates in the established interagency civil contingency arrangements, which include the provision of shelter and other assistance in emergency situations. In line with that responsibility, the Housing Executive has assisted a number of families over recent days as a result of the civil unrest in Ballymena and other areas. I am sure — I certainly hope — that the whole House will join me in condemning all the violence and rioting that took place. The Housing Executive has provided emergency temporary accommodation for 16 households in the Mid and East Antrim council area over that period, in line with its homelessness duties. Additionally, the Housing Executive is responsible for the administration of the hate incident practical action scheme, which is available across Northern Ireland to support victims of hate incidents in their homes and can provide victims with personal and home protection measures if the home has been damaged. The scheme ensures that individuals who have been the subject of a hate incident at or close to their home are afforded appropriate support. I encourage anyone affected by violence who is feeling unsafe in their home to contact the Housing Executive for advice and assistance. Over the past week, the Housing Executive has provided advice and guidance to around 50 households as a result of civil unrest.

As I have set out before, it is important that local representatives are consulted so that they are aware of the situation on the ground. One of the problems that we have had in recent times is that people have not had access to information. Elected representatives should be made aware of what is going on, for one reason more than any other, which is to dispel rumours that can go around and often lead to unrest.

As I outlined in the answer to the main question, there are a number of ways in which we can make sure that those in need are helped. Individuals who are affected by the recent disorder who are ineligible, for example, for recourse to public funds, or those otherwise not owed the full housing duty under the Housing (Northern Ireland) Order 1988, can avail themselves of advice and assistance from the Housing Executive. That includes information on self-referral to hostels and referral to floating support services. The Housing Executive recognises that some of those who are impacted on by the recent disorder may not be eligible for housing and homelessness assistance, and it is working with a number of partners to explore what additional support can be provided beyond any assistance in line with the 1988 Order.

What has happened is that there seems to have been continual blame here. First, there is a focus on one element of my statement, and then it is recognised that that focus is inaccurate. The focus then moves to another element of the statement, and that is dealt with. Now, the accusation seems to be to do with my social media moderating responsibility. I see exactly what is going on here. Look, I have absolutely no time whatsoever for those who threaten or intimidate other people. The Member has raised the issue. I will certainly go back and look at that. To be honest, social media has not been my focus over the past number of days. My focus has been on ensuring that we dampen down some of those issues, that we try to lower the temperature rather than raise tensions and that we work to ensure that those who are affected have been listened to and helped. That is where my focus is.

I am sorry, but I do not agree with the Member's characterisation of what I was doing. That is where his real problem comes from. I took the decision to put up a post later that afternoon because of the rumours that were circulating. At lunchtime, a post had gone up on another page saying that there was to be a protest at the leisure centre that evening. That was the reason for the protest in the first place. I was making it clear that there was no longer anybody in the leisure centre. I provided that clarification, which the council had already provided and news outlets were already reporting. I was trying to temper the situation and stop it getting out of hand. It is absolutely outrageous that the Member has tried to use that for political means. In his comments over the past number of days, he has tried to get political capital out of the horrendous events that have taken place. It is absolutely outrageous. Violence is wrong. We saw absolutely despicable scenes. As a House, we should be united in condemning the violence, supporting victims, supporting the police and listening to the communities that have been affected and, yes, to those who are affected by some of the immigration policies that we have in place as well. The Member is asking me to say sorry for my role in that. I simply do not believe that I have done anything that is worthy of an apology.

Yes, absolutely. I utterly condemn any graffiti or racist messages that have appeared in his constituency or, indeed, anywhere else. I hope that that can be dealt with. My officials and the Housing Executive have been working to ensure that all necessary support is provided to those who need it. I will continue to ensure that that is the case.

Yes. On the violence and disorder that we saw in Larne, a member of my office staff was contacted just before 2.00 pm that day. During the call, the PSNI advised us that people had been moved away from Larne leisure centre. The PSNI encouraged that message to be shared: it was trying to defuse the situation and was looking for help in doing that.

I also wanted to do that, and I am glad that we were able to get the message out that the leisure centre should not be a place at which people assemble.

That is absolutely a part of my role. That is why I have reached out to the Housing Executive and said that I am happy to meet anybody who has been affected. I have offered to meet them, but they are families who have gone through significant disruption over the last little while. I have made the offer. It is up to them to decide whether they want to take me up on it. Much is happening at this moment in time. It is not all about photo opportunities. I have been making sure that help is being given to those who need it.

No, I did not. What I am sorry about is the continued mischaracterisation of my position on the issue by people who should know better. I know that it can be very tempting to jump on the political bandwagon. That is exactly what Members of the House have done. They have not taken the time — when we all should be taking the time — to sit back, consider the whole situation and not rush to judgement. That is a lesson for us all to learn: to sit back and think about what has gone on. For the SDLP and others, however, it was far too tempting to jump on the political bandwagon in order to see what political points they could score, and that is despicable.

Some have presented lies as facts, and that is wrong. Let me therefore provide clarification about the timeline of what happened on that day. At around lunchtime, a Facebook group put up a notice about a protest that was taking place at Larne leisure centre because a number of families were being offered emergency accommodation there. That had become known to the police, and, just before 2.00 pm, the police contacted one of our local councillors, asking, in order to try to defuse the situation, that the message be shared that the people who had been getting shelter there had been moved out. The council also put out that clarification. It issued a press statement, and a media outlet ran with it as well. That is why I posted my clarification, backing up what had been said by the council and by the police. After that, others disgracefully tried to link me in some way to highlighting or revealing the location of the people. Let me make it very clear to the House that I did not reveal the location of anyone. Members across the House have insinuated that I did. That was absolutely not the case. I was doing the opposite. I was highlighting where individuals and families were not. I think that that was the right thing to do, but, unfortunately, some could not help themselves. They needed to jump on the political bandwagon and score some points.

That is a change in position, because there were those in the media and political parties who were saying that I had no right to be informed. Now, here we go again — another change. They are now accepting that I should have the right to be informed. Yes, when emergency protocols are put in place, it is right that we know what is going on so that we can input into it because we care about the safety of individuals and the environment in which we find ourselves and about how things were whipped up and taken out of proportion and out of control. We want to make sure that we have the information. I will be very clear about this: there are operational matters for the Housing Executive, the police and councils — I am not taking away from that; that is their role and job — but there is a responsibility for elected representatives to be informed.

Let me make it clear that the Housing Executive will make decisions that are based on the information that there is locally about the impacts that those things are likely to have. It often works in coordination with the police. It is very rare that anybody would want or ask me to intervene directly in matters that are the direct responsibility of the Housing Executive. I would have liked to see more action being taken a number of times on issues, but, ultimately, the Housing Executive often works in very difficult circumstances in difficult areas where there are lots of issues at play. Let me make it very clear that I want to make sure that we have safe, welcoming communities and that there is no room for racism or sectarianism in society.

I have had a private conversation with the Secretary of State, and, out of respect, I will keep that private. A number of comments were made last week by several individuals, and, by the way, some comments were not just wrong but offensive and, in many cases, defamatory. I put that on the record, and I put it out as a warning to some people, if they would like to take some action in the short to medium term on it. I wish that others had taken more time to consider all the facts before rushing to judgement. I make that point to the Communities Committee in particular. I have been told that, within minutes of convening and without taking evidence from me or anybody else, the Committee decided to put through a motion of no confidence. I have not seen the meeting — I do not watch the Communities Committee meetings — but I have been told that the Committee was quick to do that. Perhaps we could all take a little bit of time and consider the facts rather than rush to score political points.

Here is Mr Tennyson's problem: he starts by saying, "The truth is" and then follows it up with anything but the truth. That is the problem. He tries to present his version of events as fact when it is wrong. There was nobody in the leisure centre at that time. That is why I was highlighting the fact that nobody was there. I was saying that nobody —

The Member is saying that I highlighted the location. I highlighted the fact that it was a location but that it was not any more. I heard about things that were going on in my constituency; people told me, "There are people who are heading down here because so-and-so is being held" or "because more is going to happen here". I tried to calm the situation by saying, "No, you're wrong. That's not what is going to happen. Your energies should not be there". That is absolutely the right thing to do. I guarantee you that, if I had not made public comment, many people in the media and many Members around the House would have said, "Where was the leadership from Gordon Lyons? He knew that it was no longer being used for that purpose, but he failed to put anything on the record. He knew that it wasn't being used for that purpose, but he failed to clarify that". I say this to Mr Tennyson: I see exactly what you are doing. You are trying to score political points. The people who have been in contact with me over the past 72 hours do not believe you.

Absolutely not. In fact, it is attitudes like that of Mr McNulty that are the problem. He refuses to acknowledge that legitimate concerns exist. Some Members hate the phrase "legitimate concerns", but they exist. Now, let me be clear: that is never a justification for violence. However, we need to listen to people. One of the problems that we face in communities is that people feel that they are not being listened to. They raise concerns about housing, such as what Mears Group is doing in communities across Northern Ireland and the impact that that is having on the cost of rent and the availability of properties in the private rented sector. People such as Mr McNulty continually belittle the concerns of other people. It is not the rhetoric from this side of the House that is causing a problem. There is no excuse whatsoever for violence in any of our communities, so let us make sure that we have an honest debate. That means dispelling some of the myths that exist out there and providing clarification. However, we should not hide anything from people, either, or belittle their concerns.

The Member is absolutely right. The focus at the end of last week was not where it should have been. The focus should have been on those who were responsible for the violence and caused the damage that we witnessed in Portadown, Ballymena and Larne. I will say it again: there were too many people in the House who could not help themselves; they could not wait to score some points. Unfortunately, that happened not only over the course of the past few days; it continues to happen this week.

2,504 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Assessment

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Assessed 21 October 2026 at 12:51 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.

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